AD File Shares

Design, Structure, and Usage Rules

Note: Use of network file shares is governed by IT policies, particularly the Information
Security Plan. Please see the policies page for more information.

Under Active Directory (AD), all active faculty/staff/students have a NetID assigned
as their unique identifier in AD. You are assigned file access rights to individual
and university shared file space areas via your NetID. There are FIVE major file
space areas deployed with WKU's Active Directory: (Students ONLY have access to #1
below by default).

1. Individual File Space: All active, currently employed faculty and staff and all currently enrolled students
have this type of file space. It is not shareable and is for use by the individual
faculty/staff/student to which it is assigned. If you have a university owned PC
(as most faculty and staff do), this space will be mapped to a P: drive on your work
PC once your machine is migrated to AD. If you are using a university owned Mac your
personal space will mount on your desktop with the name "personal".

You can also access this "Individual" file space via the MyStuff web interface. Using the Mystuff web interface, this individual file space is actually
called "MyStuff" and is therefore the same file space that is mapped to the P: drive
or "personal" space.. You can add/delete files and folders on your individual file
space.

Shared Space: All shared spaces/folders on Active Directory (Custom-Shared, Division Shared,
Departmental-Shared and University Wide Shared) will show up on a university owned
PC mapped to the S: Drive. On a university owned Mac, it will mount on the desktop
with the name "Shared". An explanation of each shared space continues below:

2. Custom-Shared File Space: This file space is designed for use by selected users and/or groups who want to
set up file space for a specific purpose such a committee or project. Folders under
the root (top-level) of this area must be requested via a Help Desk request. Users
will be asked to specifiy which users/groups need access, what type of access, amount
of file space, and length of time. The Help Desk with work with the AD systems administrators
to set these file shared areas up per the requesting users instructions. This space
is also accessible from the MyStuff web interface. Once the custom-share is setup, users with access can add/delete
files and folders in that custom-shared area.

3. Division- (or College) Shared Area: This file space is designed to be shared and accessible by everyone in an administrative
division or college. This file space is setup by default for all Divisions and Colleges.
You will have access to your respective college or division shared space. This space
is also accessible from the MyStuff web interface. You can add/delete files and folders on your College/Division shared
area.

4. Departmental Shared Area: This file space is designed to be shared and accessible by everyone in a given academic
or administrative department or unit. This file space is usually setup by default
for all departments and units. You will have access to your respective departmental
shared space. This space is also accessible from the MyStuff web interface. You can add/delete files and folders on your Departmental shared
area.

5. University-wide-Shared Area: This file space is designed to be shared and accessible by all active employees.
This area is the least secure in that all faculty and staff can see and access files
and folders in this area. This space is also accessible from the MyStuff web interface. You can add/delete files and folders in the University-wide-shares
that you own.